Shortcut Wedding Soup Recipe

Italian Wedding Soup is delicious, and, if you have meatballs in your freezer from the Meatball Module, it is also very fast and easy. Recipes for this classic soup appear in almost every Italian cookbook, and there are many variations. One of my favorite recipes calls for diced carrots, diced celery, and diced zucchini, but most recipes don’t call for these vegetables; they are optional, but add color and flavor.

Incidentally, according to the Italian Food Site at about.com, the name “wedding,” is a mistranslation and actually refers to the marriage of flavors; this soup is not traditionally served at Italian weddings.

To save time in the preparation of this soup, you can avoid chopping onions by using dehydrated onions. Garlic is readily available chopped in jars, or it’s available dried like onions. Diced carrots and chopped celery are available frozen, which save chopping time; they are partially cooked, so cooking time is shorter.

Bring the beef broth to a boil in a large pot. Add the onion flakes, garlic, red pepper flakes, and black pepper; let simmer for 5 minutes, then add the carrots, celery, escarole, and meatballs. Simmer for 15-20 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Add the zucchini and continue to cook 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper if necessary, then ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the Parmesan cheese.

Note: escarole is difficult to find in some areas. Southern greens such as collard greens, mustard greens, or kale are a good substitute. You may also substitute spinach, but it cooks very quickly, so add it to each bowl, then pour the hot soup over it; it will cook in the hot broth. If you are using frozen carrots and celery which are partially cooked, add them with the zucchini.